Following a rather shaky premiere, The Blacklist: Redemption improved week by week leading up to a thrilling final two episodes.
The strength of this spinoff lies first and foremost in its characters. Whereas, The Blacklist is all about the larger than life Reddington and then everybody else, Redemption features a cast of quite a few eclectic characters.
Solomon has been the bright spot of this spinoff as the cool and efficient killer. His love-hate bromance with Tom, who has turned out to be a very strong lead, has been an absolute joy to watch.
Veteran actors Famke Janssen and Terry O'Quinn add gravitas to the screen as Tom's parents. Similar to James Spader, O'Quinn has that type of screen presence that glues you to each of his scenes.
The twist of Howard being the villain could be seen a mile away. He just seemed too goody-two-shoes. Also, Redemption is ultimately about Scottie, Tom and the team - something had to happen to make them reunite next season (if there is a next season) and Howard being the antagonist seemed like the most logical twist to make that happen.
That is not to take away from the finale's turn of events, as watching Howard manipulate Tom, slowly inching his way up the ladder to take back power of Halcyon was well paced over the weeks and brilliantly done. The ending scene with Unholy War by Jacob Banks playing in the background was spine tingling. Terry O'Quinn as the diabolical evil doer will make for some fun television. It's also great to see character actor Clarke Peters as Whitehall too.
The more surprising twist was the reveal that Trevor was a turncoat for Howard. There had to be a reason for this irrelevant character and his nonsensical love triangle with Kat and Scottie, and there it was!
Of all those on team Scottie, Kat was the most expendable, so it was surprising to see her not only survive her ordeal, but get the better of the male prostitute by bashing his head in. That was brutal.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the series. Simlar to my favourite spin-off show, Angel, the lead character at first did not seem like the type of guy a show could be built around. However, it strangley worked - Tom, like Angel, has a certain quiet charisma about him, and when surrounded by a cast of eclectic characters, the show works. I hope Redemption gets a second season as there is so much more to explore.
Finale: 8/10
Series: 8/10
What did you think The Blacklist: Redemption, Whitehall pt. 1 and 2? Leave your comments below and be sure to vote for your rating on the first season in the poll.
